


Do You Know That Every Song is About You?

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Absolute fluff, But only a little, Harry's a movie star, Harry/Kendall Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Larry coming out fic, Larry saves 2020, Larry tells their story, M/M, Set in 2020, late late show interview, long distance, soft Larry, some angst thrown in there to spice things up, supportive Niall Liam and Zayn, what i wish would happen tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26558536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: multi-chap about Larry coming out in 2020, kind of a "what I wish would happen in a perfect world" starts with the break up article going until post coming out interviews and appearances! Enjoy and leave some love if you do <3
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 133





	1. Kiss in the Kitchen

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting a fic! So pls leave any commentary that would help me out or lift me up. I don't mean any offense with my writing, and whether or not Larry is real, I was inspired by a beautiful love story, real or imagined. Thank you for reading!

“Lou,” Harry called upstairs. He set down the two mugs of tea he’d just poured. 

“Louis, tea’s hot,” He called again, this time louder.

“I heard you, love.” Harry spun around at the sound. Louis stood on the bottom step in one of Harry’s jumpers. His hands were covered by the cuffs of the sleeves and he tugged at the end of his fringe. His tired eyes met Harry’s with a soft smile. Even after years together, Harry’s heart still soared at the view of Louis’ small frame swallowed up in his clothes. He moved towards Louis on the stairs and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, burying his face in Louis’ hair and letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Harry had to be seen out in public today, to up the rumors about him and Louis and cause more buzz about the new film projects Harry had in the works.

“I missed you today,” Louis murmured against Harry’s neck. His soft breath causing goosebumps to rise along the back of Harry’s neck.

“I miss you every minute I’m not by your side,” He loosened his arms around Louis’ waist to peck him on the lips.

Louis chuckled softly, “you're a sorry sap.”

Harry shrugged, “tea’s getting cold, come on” He tugged Louis back to the kitchen island and handed him a mug. Louis sipped his tea warily before meeting Harry’s eyes with a nod of approval.

“Come on Lou, you don’t think I know how you take your tea by now,” Louis made a soft noise of acknowledgement and pulled himself up to sit on the counter facing Harry, who immediately slotted himself to stand in the space between Louis’ knees, resting his palm on Louis' thigh. Louis took another sip from his tea, blue eyes searched for Harry’s green over the rim of the mug.

“Kinda big day tomorrow, yeah?” 

Harry chuckled in response,“kinda? Louis it’s uh-yeah it’s a big day tomorrow.” a beat of silence passed between the pair,“Lou, I’m so proud of you. You know that right?” 

Louis pressed his lips together before responding,“yeah, yeah Haz, I know.” He shrugged softly, “I can only thank you for sticking around, it hasn’t exactly been easy for us, has it?”

“I didn’t sign up for easy, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Besides-“ Harry’s brow furrowed and his lips sank into a grimace. “the years we spent apart were so much harder than any challenge we’ve ever had to face together, so much harder. I mean Lou I- I mean I couldn’t, I just couldn’t..” 

Louis set down his mug and ran his thumb down the center of Harry’s brow. “Shh- Love, I know Haz, for me too. I know, I do.” Harry wrapped his hand around the back of Louis arm. Louis’ lips curled into a hopeful smile.

“Tomorrow’s the next step Haz, once the story breaks, all the fans, the ones who follow our story, they’ll catch on, they’ll truly know for the first time.” 

Harry’s breath caught in his throat as he looked up at Louis.“Yeah they’ll know, of course they’ll know.” Louis ran his finger along Harry’s jawline, stopping to cup his cheek gently.

“We’re so close, baby,” he whispered. Harry laughed with watery eyes.

“I love you so much, Lou.” Louis leaned in to kiss Harry softly,

“l love you too” he whispered against Harry’s lips. Harry’s hand found Louis hip against the marble of the counter top and Louis curled his fingers around the back of Harry’s neck. 

Harry pulled back with a giggle.

“And what are you laughing at now, hey?” 

Harry wiggled his eyebrows at Louis before starting to sing under his breath, “~Kiss in the kitchen like it’s a dance floor~” 

Louis laughed,“well aren’t we a cliche, then,”

Harry nodded.“a self-fulfilling prophecy,” 

Louis’ hand drifted down to play with Harry’s curls.“I do like that song particularly you know? One of your best I think.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.”

“It was always one of my favorites too,” Harry smiled, “it’s all about falling in love with you, the beginning, the middle, all the way up to right now.” Louis’ hands dropped down to his lap, his eyes following them down.

“I’m not scared anymore Haz, I promise.” The crinkle between Harry’s brow reappeared as Louis refused to meet his eyes.

“What on earth are you talking about?”   
“The song, uh-your song, you know that I’m scared. and I was, you were right, I was so goddamn scared of the consequences of our love, but being apart from you taught me that the consequences of being without it are so much fucking worse and I, well I guess I'm just sorry I let you down back then.”

Harry cupped Louis’ face, forcing him to meet Harry’s eyes and see the love he had in them. “You’re allowed to be scared, Lou, even when you’re terrified you’re still somehow the bravest person I know. And you never let me down. You’ve always protected me. You took on Eleanor for me, Lou, so that I could be myself, and even though I was so mad at you at the time. I know now what you did for me. And I love you so much for it. But tomorrow, you’re done with that chapter of your life. It’s over Louis. The pretending is over.” 

Louis let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh as he let his body slump into Harry’s, pressing his face into his chest. 

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist to support his weight and dropped a kiss into his hair, whispering,“it’s over baby, no more stunts.” 

Louis lifted his head off of Harry’s chest. 

“Can we go to bed now?”   
Harry pecked his lips,“mmm-that we can.”   
He grabbed the empty mugs from the countertop and left them in the sink. Gently tugging Louis wrist to coax him off the countertop, Harry and Louis turned for upstairs. Louis’ wrist stayed locked in Harry’s grip all the way up the stairs and into their bedroom. They broke apart only to brush their teeth and for Harry to complete a, in Louis’ opinion, overly complicated, skincare routine. Harry climbed into bed next to Louis, who was texting on his phone.

“Whatcha doin, dear?” he noted how Louis’ jaw was tightened with anxiety.

“trying to give everyone a heads up is all, they’re all gonna get bombarded by the paps when the article breaks tomorrow.” Harry ran a comforting touch down Louis’ back and nodded in agreement.

“I told Gems and my mum, just that we’re on the path to finally coming out- they’re thrilled for us of course.” 

Louis hummed, “Lotts is too. The whole family is prepared to go off the grid tomorrow so we should be all good.” 

Harry nodded, “Good.” 

Harry nestled into Louis’ side. “Can we sleep now?” 

Louis plugged his phone in and dropped it onto the nightstand, he yawned, flicked the light off, and wrapped an arm around Harry’s waist, “yeah, yeah,”

“Hey,” Harry whispered into the dark “when you wake up tomorrow morning, it’ll be out there. No one’s gonna think you’re dating her anymore.”

"And eventually everyone will know that you belong to me Haz.” Louis pressed a kiss to Harry’s temple and Harry let out a happy hum of approval.

“I can’t wait.” 

THE DAILY MAIL  
BREAKING NEWS: Reported Split Between Pop Star Louis Tomlinson and Model Eleanor Calder 

Pop star and former One Direction band-member Louis Tomlinson has split form long-term model girlfriend Eleanor Calder. Representatives for Tomlinson have confirmed the split and made clear that things remain cordial and mutually respectful between Tomlinson and Calder. Neither Tomlinson or Calder have been sighted in public recently, though Calder regularly remains active on social media. This confirmed split has reignited rumors of a secret relationship between Tomlinson and Harry Styles, another member of One Direction.


	2. They Don't Know About Us (But They're Going To)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoy chapter 2:) Leave love if so!

Louis woke up to the soft touch of Harry’s lips along his collarbone, gentle pecks pressed to every letter of “it is what it is.” He blinked open his eyes and pulled his hand gently through the ends of Harry’s curls. Harry, early riser he was, had already been up for an hour 

“Morning, Lou”

Louis hummed in response. All of the sudden Louis was hit by the memory of the day it was. “It’s out there, H?”

“It’s out there, baby.”

“What are people saying on socials?” Louis knew that Harry followed the dedicated conspiracists through a secret twitter account.

Harry giggled, “They’re throwing a party Lou, they’re so happy.”

“Crazy that they’ve know all this time hmm?”

“Not that crazy” Harry turned his sleepy gaze to Louis’ “we haven’t exactly been subtle, love.”

Louis laughed softly, pressing his fingers to the dimples on Harry’s cheeks. “I suppose not.”

Louis tangled his fingers in Harry’s hair, bringing his face up to meet Louis. “I can’t believe this is really happening Harry, we’ve waited for this for so long and I- I just can’t believe it.”

Harry threw his arm over Louis’ torso, one hand on either side of him, and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of his nose. “Believe it, baby, the world, they don’t know about us right now, but they’re going to Lou.”

Before he knew what was happening, Louis’ eyes were welling up with tears.

Harry was caught off guard. “Hey, hey, baby no, no tears. This is good, no crying ok?” He spoke softly.

“Happy tears.” Louis choked out. “Tears of-“ he sniffed, “of relief, I feel-I just feel so much lighter.”

Harry kissed away a tear that had run a shiny trail down Louis cheekbone. “Lou you’ve been carrying the weight of the world sweetheart, let it go, love. I’ll always be here to help.”  
Louis pulled Harry into a kiss, savoring the safe familiar weight of Harry’s lips on his. Harry pulled back and stroked his thumb across Louis’ cheek.

“I’m gonna go start breakfast, you should probably call Eleanor, babe, make sure she’s not getting attacked.”

Louis grimaced, “yeah, yeah I will.” despite Louis’ frustration with management, over time he had found a soft spot for Eleanor.  
He knew that she didn’t know what she was being dragged into when she signed a contract at eighteen, none of them did. Louis’ biting sarcasm found a worthy opponent in Eleanor, and some of the darkness that he didn’t want to weigh down Harry with, he could confide in Eleanor.

“I’ll meet you downstairs, Haz. Make me a tea, will you? With-“

Harry was already halfway down the stairs, he called over his shoulder “I know, love”

Louis grinned. “Right” he mumbled softly to himself.  
Louis grabbed his phone from the nightstand, unlocking it and purposefully ignoring the ridiculous amount of notifications on his lock screen.  
He found Eleanor’s contact, pressing call, while he hopped out of bed. Walking across the room to look out the window while he rang Eleanor.  
Eleanor answered on the third ring. 

“Hey Lou!”

“Hey, just checking in, wanted to make sure you’re uh- you know-” he shrugged.

“Not getting swarmed by the 'Larries' on twitter?” Eleanor suggested. “No worries there, babes, ah, if only they knew that I’ve secretly been their greatest ally.”

Louis chuckled, “I have a feeling they know, El.”

Eleanor laughed, “mmhmm, I guess they would. You know, Lou, you and Harry are gonna like- break the internet.”

“Yeah, I’ve thought a bit about that. Wild innit?” He took a breath, “Thank you El, for everything, I know it’s been well it’s been god-awful at some points. We wouldn’t have made it without you.”

She scoffed, “yes you would have, you wanker, you pair are the most sickening couple I’ve ever known, you do that all on your own.”

“Still,” Louis responded, “in all seriousness, thank you El.”

“I’m happy for you babes. Now don’t leave Mr. Styles waiting, I don’t want to be blamed if he’s grumpy all day long.”

“Goodbye, El”

“You two take care of each other, we'll talk soon, Louis.”

Louis grabbed a T-shirt and threw it on with this joggers before throwing his phone on the bed and heading downstairs to find Harry.  
Louis reached the bottom step to look into the kitchen at Harry, spatula in hand, with an apron thrown over his joggers, a domestic dream. Harry, still oblivious to Louis’ presence on the stairs danced to the music blaring off his phone, something Louis didn’t know.

“Whatcha making?”

Harry turned around quickly, flashing Louis a content grin, the tops of his swallow tattoos peeking over the top of his apron. 

“French toast. That okay?”

Louis smiled back, “sounds perfect.”

Some minutes later, as Harry handed Louis a massive plate of French toast along with a peck to the lips, Harry’s phone started to buzz against the counter across the kitchen.

“Must be Gems or mum” he mumbled to Louis, “lemme check love.”  
Harry crossed the kitchen and checked his phone, brows furrowing in confusion at the caller.

“Hold on Lou, I gotta take this.”

Louis looked up with a wary nod, and started to take on the mountain of French toast while Harry answered the call. Harry wandered down the hall on the phone.  
A few minutes later Louis looked up from his breakfast to see Harry standing in front of him with a frown on his face.

“Haz, what is it?”

Harry sighed, “They need me in LA, Lou, for some movies stuff, you know I would never leave you-I mean with everything going on right now, I don’t even wanna go I can tell them-“  
Louis’ stomach flopped at the thought of being away from Harry again. No matter how often they did it, distance never got easier. But Louis pushed aside his own discomfort. 

“No Haz, you have to go.” He forced a laugh, “You’re a big film star now, didn’t you hear?”

Harry chuckled softly. “I’d rather stay here with you. You need me.”Louis popped up from his seat on a barstool and wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck.

“I do need you, always will, but I will be just fine here with Cliff. And once we’re out, I’ll travel with you everywhere and cling onto you at every chance I get and you will get terribly bored with me.”

Harry giggled into Louis hair and murmured, “I could never get bored with you. I love you.”

Louis tilted his head up for a kiss. “And I you, When do you leave then?”

Harry pressed his lips onto Louis’ running his fingers across Louis’ jawline. “Tonight” he huffed.

Louis frowned, “nice amount of notice they gave you, innit?”

Harry nodded, “last minute casting decisions and all that” Harry explained in a quiet voice.

“I’ll be fine, love, truly. I can handle it.”

“I know you can Lou, I’ll just miss you is all.” Louis stood on his tiptoes to press another kiss to Harry’s lips.

“I’ll miss you too, Haz, I’ll call you nonstop”

Harry sniffed, “promise?”

“I promise.”

The pair spent the rest of the day together cuddled up on the sofa, Louis letting Harry choose every movie they watched. Harry finally got up and packed his bag after the end of Sleepless in Seattle, which had Louis groaning about cliches and Harry tearing up at the end. Louis mocked him while he kissed away each tear.  
Despite, both of their wishes that the day would last forever, Harry's car to the airport pulled up around five. Louis reluctantly removed his arms from around Harry on the couch and sat up.

"You've got to go, babe"

Harry looked at Louis with sad eyes. "I don't wanna." Harry hated the separation even more than Louis did.

"I know darling. You'll be back before you know it." Louis wrapped Harry in a hug and pressed obnoxious kisses to both of his cheeks and his forehead before Harry grabbed Louis face and pulled him in for a real kiss.

"I love you Louis."

"I love you too. Loads."

Harry got up and grabbed his waiting suitcase, kissed Louis once more for good measure and got in the car.  
Louis' phone buzzed almost immediately.

From: H<3  
I miss you already. 

Louis exhaled through his nose and typed back.

To: H<3  
I can still see you through the window love.

From: H<3  
Yeah. Me too. U look hot.

To: H<3  
I love you idiot. Call me when you land ok?

From: H<3  
I love you 2. I will. xx


	3. Maybe I Miss You

Louis woke up the next morning in a dramatically different way from the morning previous. His arm stretched across to the other side of the bed, searching for a warm body that wasn’t there. Right. Louis sat up with a sigh and reached for his phone. 

“Morning to you then, Cliff.” Louis directed to the dog lying on the floor near the foot of the bed.

He typed out a good morning to Harry. The two of them were well-versed in time difference practices. Their usual long distance routine was for both of them to send a message to the other when they woke up, and one more when they went to sleep. Whenever their awake hours overlapped, they would stay in constant communication. 

Louis blinked at the clock on his nightstand, waiting for his vision to clear.   
11:20 -it read. Louis did the maths in his head. That made it the dead middle of the night for Harry in LA. 

To: H<3

Morning, love. Just waking up here. Still don’t like sleeping without you, if you were wondering. Well text me when you’re up then. I love you. Xx

He hit send. “He’ll respond when he’s awake” He thought to himself. 

He grabbed a jumper of Harry’s from where he left it on the floor the night before and threw it on. He smiled as the cuffs fell over his hands because the fabric smelled like Harry. Like citrus and vanilla and smoke. Louis lifted the neck of the jumper to his face and breathed in the smell of Harry. He already missed him too much.

After Harry left the night before, Louis spent a while moping on the sofa, before he dragged himself to the fridge for a dinner of cold leftover pizza and an organic fruit ale that Harry had left in the fridge. He stayed up watching Homeland and let Clifford up on the couch, which was never allowed when Harry was home. He didn’t have anything else to do so he went to bed, and tried not to miss his boy too much, not that he could help it.

In the cold light of day, Louis wandered downstairs and made tea and toast in the kitchen. He filled Clifford’s bowl of food and water before letting him out into the backyard. Bored out of his mind, Louis decided to kill time by working on music. Everything that he had written lately was full of anticipation and build up, the hope he had been feeling recently really shining through in the songs. Louis plunked out some melodies on the grand piano in his and Harry’s music room and worked the morning hours away in the same way. Soon he realized it was already almost three o’clock. 

“Harry might be up by now,” his one track mind reminded him almost immediately. 

He fumbled for his phone from his back pocket. And indeed-

From: H<3   
Morning Lou! I’m sure you could guess but I got about no sleep last night:( no you and terrible jet lag makes for not a good night. Love and miss you. Call me xx 

Louis’ lips sunk into a concerned pout, at Harry’s text, and his fingers were hitting Harry’s contact to call before his brain even registered the action. 

Harry picked up almost immediately.

“Lou,” his voice came through the speakers, tired and rough with sleep.

Louis frowned. “Hey, baby. I’m sorry you had a rough night.” He thought he heard Harry heave a sigh of relief when he started talking, but he could have imagined it.

“It’s ok, just miss you ‘sall”

“I miss you too, love.” 

“what have you done all day?”

“Who me? A whole lot of nothing, I’ve got Clifford here stopping me from being too lonely and I’m working on some songs and all that.”

“Have you eaten, Lou?” Louis could hear the concern lacing Harry’s voice. Sometimes Louis found himself in moods when Harry left, where he had no appetite and no energy to do anything at all.

Louis glanced at the empty toast plate resting on the coffee table. “Yep. There’s no need to worry there love, I promise to take care of myself.” 

“People are still losing their minds on twitter you know?”

Louis chuckled, “are they? Well I guess they’ve been waiting for this for a while ‘aven’t they?”

“Almost as long as we have.”

Louis sighed, “yeah a long ass time then.”

Louis’ heart lifted in his chest at the sound of Harry’s soft laugh in response. 

“Whatsit like seven AM where you are?”

Harry hummed, “6:45.”

“What are you gonna do today, love?”

“I’ve got to go in and meet with Olivia again.” Harry answered, “they need some more screen tests done or something, before we start to shoot.”

Louis nodded, “and just when I thought that two bestselling albums would be enough for you, hmm? You’re a superstar, H. A proper superstar.”

He could practically see Harry grinning on the other end of the phone, light pink blush painting his cheekbones. 

“There would be no bestselling albums without you, Lou. You’re my muse, you know that? Every great artists needs one.” Harry responded in a light teasing tone.

Louis couldn’t stop the adoring grin that broke out across his face.

“Well aren’t I lucky?”

A moment passed before Harry spoke gently, “do you know that every song is about you?”

Louis dropped onto the nearby sofa, brow furrowing in confusion. “What you mean, love?”

“Even the ones that aren’t, even the ones that are supposed to be about something else, they’re still about you...because at the core of every feeling I’ve ever felt, it’s you, Lou. Always you.”

Louis let out a emotion-filled laugh, “you are a sap, you know that?” he sighed, “you know mine are about you too, don’t think I could write the crap I write for you about anyone else on this planet. Yeah, your sappiness is contagious I’m thinking.”

Harry made a fond noise over the phone,   
“Well I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, me neither.” 

Another moment passed and Louis felt the distance between him and Harry tug at his heartstrings. His boy was too far away.

Harry was thinking the exact same thing, “I’ve only been gone for a day, I shouldn’t miss you this much.” Harry paused, “I’ve got to go start my day though, Lou. Text me when you go to bed maybe I’ll be able to call again or I’ll definitely at least wish you sweet dreams over text.”

“Ok baby, I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Harry hung up first. He sat up in bed and glanced around the bedroom of their LA house. He and Louis liked to keep random collections of photos and memories from the past few years all over their houses. Harry grabbed a framed picture off the nightstand. It was from the days before the hiatus, right after the drop of Midnight Memories. All the boys were huddled together smiling for the camera. 

The elation on all of their faces caused a little pang in Harry’s chest. He and Louis had been in touch with the guys of course, but he missed being friends with them all the time, being brothers. Zayn was going to be a father any day now, Liam had finally fallen in love and gotten engaged, and Niall was on the radio practically all the time now. He couldn’t believe how far they’d all come.

As Harry looked back at the photo, and looked closer at Louis, he could see the shadows under Louis’ eyes and it broke his heart. The closeting and the lying, and the tough guy image that Louis had to portray was so hard on him back then. Recently, Harry had all but chased away the haunted expression on Louis’ face, but looking at the picture, he was reminded just how hard of a time it was for Louis, for both of them really. And how big of a deal what they were doing now was, how huge it was for Louis.

Harry ran a thumb across the picture of young Louis. “I promise it won’t last forever.” He whispered to the image of young Louis, like the boy from the past could somehow hear him. 

The man waiting for Harry back at home in London was drastically different from the boy in the picture. The boy in the picture hadn’t even been through the worst yet, but the man in London, he’d already weathered the storm and come out stronger, still gripping Harry’s hand. 

Harry and Louis tried not to dwell too much on the break up. It was a dark time for both of them. When the pressure and the closeting became too much, Louis and Harry started to tear away from each other, resentment and pain building up everyday, until they finally decided to end it. They thought that there was just too much hurt in their history, and with the start of the hiatus they figured they could both start fresh. 

Neither of them could though. The next year and was full of escapism, and drunk calls, and regret. Louis and Harry hadn’t spoken in weeks when Louis called in December, choked sobs filled the phone line, while Harry, begged Louis to “tell me what’s happened Louis, Louis talk to me love-please Louis, breathe Louis, baby, what’s happened?”

The whimpered words “it’s mum” had Harry running to be at Louis side as fast as he possibly could. He took care of Louis while Louis took care of the rest of his family, brought tea to hospital waiting rooms, and held Louis when his world finally split on its axis and crumbled around him. 

After the emotions of the X-Factor performance, they both knew, they would never be able to start fresh. They were it for each other, forever. But in some unspoken way, they also knew that they needed to spend some time apart before they started the rest of their lives. 

They stayed in touch, flirting occasionally, and publicly supporting each other’s career developments. It wasn’t until 2017 though, when Harry released his first album that they started to fall back into each other’s arms for good.

Harry was at his release party. Drink in hand, surrounded by all the people that helped him create and release his first album. His phone rang.

Looking down at the caller ID, his heart stopped- Louis. Louis was calling him.

Harry ducked out the back door onto the empty street and hit the answer button, raising the phone to his ear. 

“Lou?”

He heard a sharp inhale from the other end of the line. Louis’ voice sounded right and shaky, “Haz. Hey-hi, it’s it ok that I’m calling? If I’m -uh interrupting I can call you later.” 

“No-no please don’t hang up, I’m uh I’m glad you called.”

“Ok if you’re sure.” He took a breath, “Haz, I just listened to the album”

silence.

“Oh. You did?”

“Yeah. Start to finish. Thought I’d try and just -you know, rip off the band aid. Poured myself a glass of whiskey that I didn’t even end up touching, curled up in my bed and hit play and- I mean, shit Haz, I don’t think I moved the whole time, I barely even breathed from the first chord to the last.”

Harry didn’t know how to respond to that.   
“Did you like it?”

Louis laughed out loud, a strangled sound, “Did I like it? Did you just-“ his voice dropped to a quiet soft tone, “you made it Haz, it’s-it’s just beautiful, and it’s about us, it’s about me.” 

Harry exhaled, “yeah, yeah it’s about you Lou.” 

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna be the first one to break this time.” 

Harry held his breath, waiting for Louis to continue. 

“Can I see you? Where are you, Harry?” Louis sounded wild and eager, and without even thinking about it Harry was sending a car to pick him up and bring his boy back to him. 

It was as simple as that. A car dropped Louis on the sidewalk and only seconds later, he was back in Harry’s arms. 

Harry laughed out loud, “I’m never letting you go again.” 

Hot lips pressed kiss after kiss to Harry’s face and neck and lips. 

“Never- Never let me go. I’m so sorry, baby.” 

Harry wiped Louis’ tears and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. Louis buried his head in Harry’s neck, letting out a sob. Two damaged people holding each other on a street corner, finally realized that the only thing that could make them whole again, was each other.

Harry pulled himself out of the memory, looked one more at the young face of the man he loved, and got out of bed. He got ready quickly, dragging a hand through his hair and throwing on a pair of sunglasses. The car sent for him pulled up in front of his house. He’d have to just grab something to eat on set.

As the car headed down to set, Harry looked out the window at the LA streets. He smiled wistfully while they passed the Beachwood Cafe, one of his and Louis’ old secret spots, though now it was always filled with fans. They didn’t mind though, it was a way to share a piece of their story with the fans, even if they didn’t know it.

He pulled open his phone and sent a text to Louis.

To: Loubear   
Just passed by the Beachwood;) it’s rammed full of fans now. Can’t wait for them to know that you’re the one I went there with.

He waited a minute. Louis must not have been on his phone.

Before Harry knew it, the car was pulling up to set and Harry was sliding out of the back seat with a thank you to the driver. Someone handed him an identification pass and pointed him in the general direction that he should head in. 

Set got more crowded and busy the more he walked, and soon enough he spotted Olivia and Florence. Olivia waved him over with a smile. 

“Harry, dear, it’s so great to see you again.”

“Hi Olivia! Lovely to see you.” He nodded in the direction of his costar, “Florence”

“Hello Harry,” she responded with a smile.

“Right well,” Olivia jumped in, “we should be fairly quick for these screen tests this morning, and then we have a quick meeting with the publicity reps and you two are free until we start to shoot next month! Sound good?”

Harry and Florence nodded before they were shuttled off to hair and makeup. 

Harry sat next to Florence in makeup, picked at a scone, and made light conversation with her about her previous work, and her love of his music. Just then, his phone lit up with a response from Louis.

From: Loubear

Dreadful shame that you can’t fly back with chocolate chip pancakes. Miss that place, I do.

Harry smiled fondly at the memory of Louis in the cafe, face shoved full of chocolate chip pancakes and hair tucked into a beanie.

To: Loubear 

I’ll make a batch as soon as I’m back home. Mine are better anyways xx

Florence gasped softly and Harry looked over to see her eyeing his phone. He met her wide eyes in mock innocence.

“I’m sorry!” She burst out, “I’m not meaning to intrude, truly, but, it’s true then?” 

Harry looked up at her jokingly, “what’s true?” He teased.

“You oh- my gosh I mean- You and Louis! I thought it was surely fan conspiracy, but no it’s real?” 

Harry laughed softly as a grin cracked onto his face. “Mm yeah, real as can be, he’s back in London now at ours.” 

Florence laughed out loud, “wow. This is just not what I was expecting to find out today. And you’ve kept it a secret for how long?”

Harry nodded, “eh like since 2011 but well we were off and on for a bit. Yeah, we didn’t keep it secret really by choice though, it’s a long story. But we’re actually planning on coming out soon, probably gonna be addressed at the publicity meeting so you would have found out some way.”

Their conversation was cut short by a call for them on set for screen tests and Harry spent the rest of the morning working. When they were out of costume, Olivia pulled Harry and Florence into the publicity meeting.

Harry sat between Florence and Olivia across the table from the publicity team, and the scene reminded him far too much of a young version of himself and Louis, sitting in front of a team of publicists and managers, telling them to hide their relationship. This meeting was different of course, as Olivia already knew about Harry and Louis’ situation and plans to come out before the movie premiere, and had no problem with it.

“Right then,” Olivia started, “Harry I wanted to give you the opportunity to let Ms. Pugh in on the industry’s worst kept secret before we start.”

“Oh she’s been informed.” Harry chuckled and Florence nodded with wide eyes. 

Olivia grinned. “Excellent.”

The publicity team passed out the contracts that said most simply that the two actors would be present and available for all premieres, attend a minimum of 5 press interviews for the film, and allow for their names and images to be used in all advertising purposes. Harry signed and passed his contract back.

Olivia rubbed Harry’s shoulder gently, “I can’t wait to meet him, dear, you’ll bring him round won’t you?”

Harry threw back a face splitting grin, he couldn’t wait to show Louis off. “Oh yes, he’ll love to hang out here, I’m sure.”

“Alright well you two are free to go for the day, thank you so much for coming in, we were desperate!” Olivia said.

Harry thanked her in return and called a car to get him back home. He turned on his phone to see a text from Louis received twenty minutes before.

From: Loubear 

Off to bed. I miss you. 

Harry sighed. He didn’t wanna call now and risk waking Louis up, but the text seemed sad and lonely. He hated leaving Louis alone, knew how he got when he was lonely and missing Harry. He sent back a text.

To: Loubear 

Goodnight babe. Sorry I missed you going to bed. I love you so so much Lou!!! Call me if you need me, doesn’t matter the time. Sweet dreams Xx

Harry spent the night in by himself, watching cooking shows. He had a bowl of cereal for dinner and took a bath, and the curled up in bed, which was far too empty. 

Just a few more days and he’d be back home.


	4. Even My Phone Misses Your Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, small trigger warning for this chapter: description of emotional and physical states similar to a panic attack, so please be aware of that. I hope you enjoy <3

Harry woke up with a groan and rubbed at his heavy eyes. He had struggled to fall asleep the night before, his bed was too cold and he was too worried about Louis all lonely in London. 

Just two more days in LA. A lunch appointment today, and Olivia’s brunch reception tomorrow. He yanked his phone off the charger and rolled over onto his stomach, still buried under the duvet. 

From: Loubear 

Morning Haz. No need to get all worried. Can’t wait for you to get home. Call me. x 

Harry stretched and frowned, the text doing nothing to ease his anxiety. He unlocked his phone and pressed call. The phone rang. And rang again. Louis’ generic voicemail auto message began to play. Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion. Why would Louis not answer? He can’t leave the house and he’s always attached to his phone when he’s waiting to hear from Harry. Harry tried not to worry about it too much. 

“Louis will call eventually, and everything will be fine,” he thought to himself.  
He composed a quick text. 

To: Loubear

Morning, love. What’s got you so busy that you missed my phone call?? Just joking! Don’t feel bad! I hope you have a good day. Call me please. 

Harry sighed. The previous morning, talking to Louis gave Harry a much needed boost of energy to get through the day. He wandered into the kitchen and cracked open a Yerba Mate, hoping the caffeine would do the trick today, though he much preferred his boy. 

Harry ran his fingers through his curls, coming to the conclusion that it needed a good shampoo before he could do anything that day. 

Harry stepped into the bathroom, glancing at his reflection in the ornate mirror, he noticed the bags under his eyes. His body had never adjusted to jet lag well. Harry reached in to turn the shower on, he twisted the lid off a bottle of Advil and swallowed two in an effort to ease the faint aching in his joints. 

Harry got in the shower, hot steam filling the bathroom. He propped his phone up on the shower ledge so that it was in view if Louis called during his shower. 

He didn’t.

Harry had a lunch appointment with Kendall in an hour. The two of them had remained good friends since the time when they were in a mutually beneficial PR relationship. Kendall and Harry understood each other, specifically they understood how it felt to be closeted in the industry. 

Kendall and her long term girlfriend, Lauren, were stuck in a similar situation to Louis and Harry. It’s how Harry and Kendall ended up fake dating in the first place, a connection between management teams that were having the same problem and figured they could help each other out. 

Harry was looking forward to catching up with Kendall, but the sinking feeling in his stomach from not hearing back from Louis kept on growing. The last few messages he had received were lackluster, he could practically hear Louis in one of his more emotionless states, saying the words in a dry tone. There was no “I love you” in either one. This realization unsettled Harry more than he cared to admit. 

Harry finished getting ready and got in the car to drive himself to lunch. Kendall knew the best spots in LA to avoid getting spotted or papped. She always helped Harry set up his and Louis’ date nights when they were in LA. 

When Harry arrived at the restaurant he slipped out of his car and made his way to the hostess stand. Waving politely at the hostess before he saw Kendall wave at him from a secluded table in the back and turned to head towards her. She popped up from her chair for a hug, Harry squeezed her tightly around the shoulders and sat down across the table. 

“Hey Ken, missed ya.”

Kendall made an exasperated noise “Ugh! I’ve missed you!!! You don’t call me enough. How are you?”

“I’m good yeah, pretty good. Don’t like being away from Louis like this, but it’s good to see LA. And you, of course”

“Don’t flatter me Styles. How is that sweet man? Still got that attitude?” 

Harry grinned at her, “oh he’s still got it I’d say. Miss ‘em.” He shrugged, “I’m sure you understand, but it’s kind of like -when you have been through something like what Lou and I have you just, well, you get used to things changing at the drop of a hat, and just -you get used to the uncertainty. Anyways, I’m just always on edge, waiting for someone to like ruin what Louis and I have worked for, so not having him within arm’s reach, makes us both anxious I guess.”

Kendall nodded sympathetically, “I get it Harry, it’s really fucking hard, I’m sorry.”

Harry smiled back, “it’s not all bad though, Louis and I are gonna come out by the end of the year for sure, and I just keep imagining the reactions of the fans who knew all along.”

Kendall hummed in affirmation, “that’s beautiful Harry. They’re gonna lose it y’know?” 

Harry laughed out loud, “they truly are”  
“What about you? How are you? Lauren’s good?”

“Lauren’s good! I’m good! Been fighting kind of a lot recently, about coming out and all that. She wants to so bad, but I’m just not ready to give up on my career like that. I don’t really think it’s possible for me to come out and still be successful, so.”

Harry frowned. “You sound like Louis, Ken. And -I don’t know, I really hope you’re wrong about that. But I get it, I do, and I’m sure Lauren does too.”

“She definitely does, I think she just gets so fed up with the PR stunts I do and wants to tell the world I’m not out dating every basketball player in the world.”

Harry chuckled softly, “I know the feeling, it’s hard to see someone you have always regarded as ‘yours’ publicly say they’re someone else’s. I tend to get a bit jealous when it comes to Lou, well a bit more than a bit.”

Kendall laughed. “Yes yes. I’ve heard the stories straight from him.”

Harry hummed, “he tells them better.”

“So Harry, what’s up for you, career wise?”

“Not much at the moment, the coming out plans have kind of been the only thing I’ve had to communicate with management and all that with. And then there’s the film, which we start shooting in like a month.”

Kendall gasped, “yes! Yes! I forgot about that. That’s incredible, H, you are going to absolutely smash it.”

Harry smiled back, “thank you, I’m really excited about it too.”

"And I mean what an incredible group! I mean-Olivia Wilde, Harry! That's insane."

"Yeah mad isn't it. I'm quite looking forward to getting started, really going for this acting thing for a while."

Kendall squinted her eyes at Harry skeptically, "As long as your music doesn't suffer I support this. But, I swear Styles, if you are putting new music off for this, you will be hearing from my big shot lawyers."

Harry laughed, "No worries there. The music couldn't stop if I wanted it to, kinda just comes when it comes." 

Harry kept his phone on the table, tapping the screen every few minutes, just in case Louis tried to reach him. 

He didn’t. The weight in Harry’s stomach got heavier. After lunch, Harry wished Kendall goodbye, gave her a hug, and rushed back to his car. He figured he would try and call Louis one more time on the way home. 

Harry buckled his seatbelt. He found Louis’ contact and pressed call before throwing the car into reverse. The dial sound reverberated through the vehicle on the radio speakers.

Harry was done lunch around one, making it something like nine at night for Louis. The phone rang again.

“He should be up”, thought Harry, “he should be answering, something’s wrong.”

The fifth ring was cut off, “Haz?” 

Louis’ voice was shaky and tight. Harry could hear him taking shallow breaths over the phone line. 

Harry sucked in a breath, stomach sinking, “Louis-baby, what’s going on?” Harry rushed to get his questions out, “Can you talk to me please? I’m here.”

Louis’ breathing picked up, “Haz- Hazza, I need you to come home please-I, can you come home now please-you, you have to, can you-“ Louis’ voice cracked, and Harry winced sharply.

Harry gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, trying to focus on the road in front of him, despite the alarm bells going off in his head at the sounds of Louis in pain. 

“Lou, hey, hey, it’s okay-you’re okay. What happened, baby? Can you tell me what happened?” 

Louis whimpered softly into the phone, “I need you here.”

“I know. I know. I wish I was there more than anything. But right now I need you to explain to me what’s got you so upset. Can you do that?” 

Harry listened to Louis’ breathing, it sped up again, coming across the phone as quick and shallow pants.

“Louis, hey, Louis breathe, baby. That’s it. Take a deep breath, good, love. Keep breathing please. We can talk when you’re ready. Breathe, Lou.”

After a couple more minutes of whispered comforts from Harry. Louis sighed, finally answering Harry’s question with, “Simon called me, Harry.”

Harry’s stomach dropped completely, “He what? He knows he is not to contact you.”

“I have a feeling that he doesn’t have much to lose at this point.”

“What did he say to you, Louis?”

Louis’ voice stretched tight across his next sentence, “he threatened me,” Louis sniffed, “and he threatened you. Your career.” Louis choked on a sob, “your life, and mine.”

Harry growled low in his throat. “He’s not gonna hurt you, baby. He’s not gonna hurt me.” Harry knew he had to get home to Louis as soon as he could. He knew Louis wouldn’t be able to snap out of this state anytime soon, not without Harry’s arms around him.

Harry’s gripped onto the steering wheel, face crumbling as he listened to Louis’ soft sobs from all the way across the ocean. 

He let him cry for a minute, “Lou,” he started softly, “sunshine, stop crying. I’m gonna be home so quick, I’m gonna call and ask for them to change my flight right now, love. Try and go to sleep for me. I’ll send you my flight info, and when you wake up I’ll already be on my way home to you.”

Louis sniffed, letting out a pained whisper of “Harry-“

“I know, I know babe. I love you too. Sleep now, try and go to sleep. I’ll be there when you wake up.” 

Harry listened to Louis quiet down and his breathing even out as he fell asleep. Harry hung up the phone, letting out a tense breath and running his hands over his face. He turned the car around, headed towards the airport, and he called to get his flight changed immediately. 

“I don’t care how, I don’t care what airline, I’ll talk to Olivia later and apologize for missing her reception, just get me on the next flight to London. Now.”

He forwarded his flight details to Louis’ email address. An hour later, he was in the air. A business select seat on a commercial airline was something Harry didn’t do often, so he wasn’t prepared for the massive amount of fans he’d run into. He greeted them all, despite the fatigue and stress running through his body. He collapsed into his seat in the plane and tried to sleep.

“I’m on my way, Lou.”


	5. It's Only For The Brave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've finally made it to their coming out:) Next chapter will be the last! Thanks for reading!

Harry fumbled with his keys, in a rush to unlock the front door of the home he shared with Louis. It was 11:30 in the morning, and Harry had finally made it back to London and to Louis. 

Harry was familiar with Louis’ bad days and knew exactly the headspace his boyfriend would be in. As soon as he heard the state that Louis was in over the phone the night before, he knew he needed to get home immediately. Harry hadn’t heard from Louis since that phone call, which only increased his concern. 

Harry abandoned his suitcase in the kitchen, running up the stairs and towards the bedroom. 

The door was cracked open and Harry pushed it open with his arm, eyes scanning the room. He noticed that Louis had lowered the black out curtains, darkening the room as much as possible in the middle of the day. 

Harry’s eyes fell on the Louis-sized lump on Harry’s side of the bed. He was huddled up in the white duvet with his face buried in the pillows. Harry’s heart ached at the knowledge that Louis probably hadn’t moved since he spoke to him last. He moved to kneel by Louis’ head. 

“Lou,” he ran his fingers across the back of Louis’ hair. “Love it’s me. I’m home.”

Louis made a soft noise of confusion, his head lifting up from where it was buried into Harry’s pillow. His swollen eyes met Harry’s in a blank stare. Harry’s heart clenched at Louis’ nonrecognition.

“Lou it’s me. It’s Hazza, I’m back from LA.”

Louis’ eyes filled with tears and he threw his small frame into Harry’s waiting arms. Harry cradled Louis in his arms, one arm around the back of his shoulders and another holding onto his knees while his body shuddered with heavy sobs. Louis pressed his nose to the spot where Harry’s neck met his shoulder. Harry sat on the edge of the bed now, holding Louis tightly and murmuring sweet words into his ears to calm him down. 

Louis, already shirtless with his soft joggers on bottom, scratched desperately at the material of Harry’s button down. Harry knew exactly what he wanted and popped the top few buttons open before tugging the shirt over his head and onto the floor. 

Louis maneuvered himself to sit with one leg on either side of Harry’s lap, and glued his chest to Harry’s, the contact grounding him and pulling his panicked thoughts back to reality. Harry supported Louis with a hand on the small of his back, his other hand reaching up to stroke through the short hair at the back of Louis head.

Louis breathing slowed along with his cries. Tired out, he rested his forehead on Harry’s shoulder. Harry lifted his hand out of Louis’ hair to tap gently under his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. 

“Talk to me, Lou.”

“I’m okay.” 

“Okay, that’s good. You know, he can’t touch us anymore. He can’t make us do anything anymore. They’re empty threats Lou, empty.” 

Louis squeezed his eyes closed and nodded violently. “Yeah, yeah, empty.” 

Harry pressed a kiss to Louis’ crumpled brow. 

“I love you, Louis. I’m sorry I left.”

“S’not your fault. I love you too.”

Harry rubbed his hands over Louis’ jawline, his finger tips catching on scratchy stubble. 

“Lou! You need to shave, I can’t get beard burn!”

Louis laughed in response, tilting his head up to Harry’s, “Oh we can’t have that! Can we?” 

Harry pressed his lips softly against Louis’, only pulling back to whisper, “ok, maybe just this once.” Before chasing Louis’ lips once again, his hands sliding into place at the curve of Louis’s waist. 

Louis hands, which had previously been cupping Harry’s face, grabbed at the back of Harry’s neck, legs locking around his waist. 

Harry flipped them over onto the middle of the bed. Louis lay sprawled on his back with Harry in-between his legs as Harry’s hands slid into his hair, tongue battling Louis’ for dominance. Louis pulled away to press hot kisses along Harry’s neck.

Harry let out a soft moan, “shit Lou...I missed you.” 

Louis looked up with an amused glint in his eyes, “Missed you too, babe.” 

Louis stomach grumbled, turning Harry’s relaxed smile into a frown.

“When was the last time you ate, baby?”

The grumbled words, “..while ago.” had Harry pulling Louis out of bed and down to the kitchen. 

Eggs and breakfast sausage sizzled in pans attended to by Harry while Louis made up two cups of tea. 

They ate on the deck in quiet contentment. Harry cuddled into Louis’ side on the outdoor couch. 

“Why don’t we just come out now?” Louis softly questioned when their plates were empty and abandoned on the the nearby table.

Harry looked down at him, confusion lining his face. 

“You know why, Lou. The timeline.. and public opinion, and all that. The article dropped like four days ago, love”

“I know, I know, but Haz, no one is gonna believe that we haven’t been together this whole time. There’s no chance. Let’s say to hell with the timeline. I don’t care about public opinion, we’ve got enough money to live like recluses for the rest of our lives if we have to.”

Harry smiled up at Louis, “we’re not going to live like recluses, darling.”

“Well yeah, but we could.” Louis grabbed Harry’s hands in his. “Harry let’s break the rules, we finally can. I want to tell the world that you’re mine. I want to show Simon that his threats don’t scare me. I believe that our fans are going to understand why we lied, and they’re gonna keep on loving us.” 

Harry let out a long exhale. “You are crazy.”

“Oh you love me.”

“I love you”

“You know,” Louis grinned, “they say, love’s only for the brave.” 

Harry shook his head, “Oh do they?”

Louis giggled, bringing his hand up to dance along Harry’s cheekbone, “They do.”

Harry caught Louis’ lips in a slow kiss. Louis smiled against Harry’s lips. 

Harry pulled back and whispered, “You really wanna do this?”

Louis nodded reverently, “I really wanna do this.” 

Harry squeezed Louis’ hand. “Okay, let’s just do it then. I’m not gonna overthink this, we are just gonna,” he laughed out loud, “do it.”

Harry pulled Louis over to lay on his chest, and grabbed his phone off the table, scrolling to find instagram, while Louis traced shapes along his collarbone. He opened the app and pressed the buttons to create a new post. 

“I was thinking just a series of pictures of us from over the years, and then one from right now?” He said, and Louis mumbled soft words of agreement. 

Harry picked out a picture of him and Louis after the release of Up All Night. It was from when Harry was still shorter than Louis, wrapped up in his arms and pressing a kiss against Louis’ cheek. 

Louis pointed to a candid taken backstage during the Where We Are tour, Louis had his head on Harry’s shoulder and Harry’s arm wound tightly around Louis’ waist. Louis was laughing at something Zayn was saying next to him, and Harry was talking to Liam and Niall on the other side. It was a photo of One Direction, Louis and Harry in love and just existing within the band, something they had never gotten to show the fans before.

The last one Harry picked out, was of Louis backstage at one of Harry’s first Love on Tour performances. Harry was holding a bouquet that Louis brought him, Louis’ arm was wrapped loosely around his waist. They were laughing. 

Harry went to open his camera and turned it towards Louis on the couch. Louis scooted back against the couch and held his tea cup over the bottom half of his face. Harry placed his free hand on Louis’ thigh, anchor side up. He added the picture to the post and smiled at Louis. 

“What do we say?” 

“Keep it simple for now, they’ll get their explanations when we do interviews and all that.” 

Harry nodded, typing out “@louist91 is my home. We’re sorry for keeping you in the dark so long. Thank you for your support. All the love -H” 

Louis nodded his approval. “It’s perfect, love,” 

Harry grabbed Louis’ wrist to pull him back into his chest. “Last chance, you’re sure?”

“I’m sure, Harry. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Harry closed his eyes and pressed post. “Our team is gonna kill us.”

A million phones around the world chimed. Fans around the world lost their minds, responses and twitter mentions started flooding in. 

Louis plucked the phone from Harry’s hand before he got overwhelmed. 

“No, nope none of that! Phones are away for the rest of day.”

Harry faked a pout, “Well then what’s gonna entertain me?”

Louis smirked at him, “Kiss me, you fool.”


	6. The Story of Our Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! We have finally made it to the end!!! I hope you found some happiness in this fic as I wrote pretty much what I know I would have loved to find when looking for something to read. Thank you for the love!

Larry Stylinson? The Rumors are True.

‘LARRY’ IS REAL: Stars Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson Come Out of the Closet

Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles Advocate for LGBTQ+ Rights in the Industry

Headlines flooded across magazine covers and social media pages. The world finally knew the truth. #LARRYISREAL trended number one on twitter for 8 hours. The morning following the post, Harry and Louis sat in their bed reading the best fan reactions and fielding calls from their friends and family absolutely losing their minds, but all thrilled for them nonetheless. 

As for their management teams, they didn’t take too much heat from them for their impulsive decision to come out. Most of the behind the scenes planning had already been hammered out anyway, Louis and Harry had just sped up the timeline a little. The celebrity community was quick to pour their support behind Harry and Louis, condemning closeting and bearding in the industry. 

Harry and Louis had already heard from Niall, Liam, and Zayn. Niall called about 20 minutes after they posted the picture, laughing loudly over the phone, raving about how Harry and Louis were “sneaky sons of bitches that needed to meet him for a pint someday very soon.” Liam called after Niall texted him the news, to tell Harry and Louis how proud he was of them. Zayn called about an hour later, and exchanged apologies with Louis before speaking soft words about being, “finally free from them” and “getting you and Harry out of there, Lou.”

Harry wiped the quiet tears that rolled down Louis’ cheeks during that call. Anne called later in the morning, blubbering about how proud of her boys she was, and made them promise to come visit her soon. 

“Louis, love?”

“Yeah, Anne?”

“You know how proud Jo would be of you right now. You remember how much she loves you ok, baby?”

Louis choked out a laugh, “I will.” 

Harry wiped the tears forming in the corner of his eyes, “We love you, mum.” He hung up the phone.

Louis pressed a kiss to Harry’s eyebrow. 

“Haz, everyone knows the truth about all those women now. I think someone has lost his womanizer title.”

A smile formed on Harry’s lips, “I’m thinking that I don’t mind all that much.” 

Louis head tilted up to kiss him firmly, smiling widely against his lips, “me neither.” 

-1 Week Later-

“Hello Everybody, welcome back to the Late Late Show I’m James Corden and I am about to sit down with Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, as they tell, for the first time ever, their love story from start to finish. So, without any further ado, please welcome, for the first time in public,” James adopted a teasing voice, “Larry Stylinson.” 

Harry and Louis emerged from the back. Harry wore high waisted white pants paired with a loose fitting lavender button up. Louis wore a dark blue blazer over a white T-shirt and black jeans. Harry’s ring clad hand held Louis’ tightly between their bodies as they walked out in front of the cameras. Louis broke their grip to shake hands with James, hand quickly finding a spot at the small of Harry’s back once it was free. 

They sat down on the couch across from James’ host chair, Harry’s arm draped over the back of the couch, fingertips lightly grazing Louis’ shoulder. 

James looked at them proudly, “I’m so proud of you lads. You deserve this.”

Harry smiled widely and Louis responded for the both of them, “Thanks mate, really thank you so much. It’s been quite a journey, but we’re grateful to be here and for everyone that’s been so supportive.”

James nodded, “So, how do you guys wanna do this? Want to just start at the beginning and I’ll let you guys tell the whole story? Then if I’ve got some questions when you’re done?”

Harry looked at Louis for approval, and at his small nod he turned to James, “yeah, yeah.” He exhaled. “Starting at the beginning, wow. Well -uh Lou and I met, where all great love stories begin, in the toilets at the X-Factor Auditions.”

Louis chuckled, “Harry here, may or may not have peed on my shoe, accidentally of course.” 

Harry blushed. “It’s still embarrassing to hear, but yeah, and then I said-“

“Oops.” Louis finished the sentence.

Harry nodded, “And Louis said Hi.”  
Louis rolled up his blazer sleeve to point at his ‘Oops tattoo.’ Harry smiled at him, showing it off to the camera fondly. 

“Ah, thought that was sounding familiar, lads.” James added teasingly.

“I thought Louis was cute, but I didn’t do anything about it. Then, all of the sudden we were in a band together. And I was just like- I’m gonna be in a band with the cute guy that I peed on.” Louis and James laughed aloud at Harry’s statement.

The video of Harry jumping into Louis’ arms on the X-Factor stage played on the screens in the background. They watched it fondly, Louis’ hand running up and down the outside of Harry’s arm. 

“So then, all the lads, we went and stayed at a place of Harry’s family’s to get to know each other and all that, and well-“

“I just kissed him one night.” Harry interrupted, grinning at Louis. 

Louis laughed, “That he did. And I mean I actually had a girlfriend at this time, you know high school datin’ and all that, but I called her that night, broke it off. And from that point on I was just doomed I guess. No hope at all.”

Harry placed his hand on Louis’ knee, stroking his thumb back and forth, “You know, we were so excited at just the prospect of getting famous and making music and all of that glamour, that once we were off the X-Factor, we had all these contracts just kinda shoved in our faces,” Harry sighed and looked at Louis, “And we really had no way of knowing, what we’d signed over to them.” 

Louis frowned at Harry’s words, placing his hand over Harry’s on his knee. “We started with the Up All Night album release and then the tour, and we had all these crazy amazing fans right, and our management’s logic was that all these young girls were wanting to date us, so we had to be within reach to some degree. We definitely couldn’t be together publicly. But they told us that would be fine, that we could project an image to the public and be happy on our own.” 

“Before they started tearing us apart,” Harry grumbled, under his breath. Louis squeezed his hand.

“What was that, Harry?” asked James.

“They -uh they said we could stay together on our own, but then everything we did was too obvious. The fans caught on and they were too smart and management got sick of the rumors, so they thought they could just give us girlfriends and stop all the speculation.” 

Louis chimed in, “Harry was branded as the womanizer, when he was-“ Louis, pressed his lips together, eyes meeting Harry’s, “When he was far too young, and it wasn’t fair or okay, how they made him do that.” 

Harry smiled sadly at Louis, reassuring him silently, “None of it was fair, Lou, to either of us.” He turned back to James and the cameras. “We moved in together after that first tour, into the iconic ‘Princess Park’ flat.” Harry flashed a sneaky grin at the camera, “It’s always been an important bit of proof for all the fans who pieced together evidence of our relationship.” 

Louis smiled, “So then we continued, in much the same way. Stayed together the whole time, got to stay together at night when they were putting us up in hotel rooms.” Louis frowned, trying to eloquently piece together his next thought. “This was a time in me life where I was just so insecure, I always thought I was the weak link of the band and that I was bringing everyone down,” Harry’s lips sunk into a deep frown at Louis’ words, “and then I also had Harry who I just kinda regarded as this bright light. What I felt for him was almost beyond my understanding.” Louis turned to look at Harry, “I was the older one, and I had promised Harry’s mum I would protect him. Simon and management came to me one day, said that one of us was going to have a long-term beard, and it sure as hell wasn’t gonna be Harry if I could help it, so that’s when Eleanor came into the picture.”

Harry looked at Louis sadly, “Things went downhill so fast from there. The band started to get more into the party scene, and the fake relationships that Louis and I were in really took their toll. That’s actually around the time I wrote Two Ghosts, because we weren’t even ourselves anymore, we still had this love for each other but we weren’t even people anymore-“ Harry trailed off as Louis tucked a stray curl behind his ear.

“Shh -love, yeah?” He turned to the cameras. “The pressure was too much, the self-loathing mixed with alcohol and the both of us turned into right-nasty blokes. This was when we fell into a cycle of on and off.”

“We would break up for a while, and then come crawling back into the other person’s bed, usually crying.” Harry continued. “During the last album, we were back together again, and right happy about it, and then the idea of solo careers started going around, and Louis and I got into a a nasty fight about the possibility, and we just decided that we needed to try and be our own people and date other people and all of that. We just thought that too much had happened.”

Harry’s arm slid off the back of the couch and wrapped tightly around Louis’ waist in preparation for the time period they were about to talk about. Harry looked at Louis, waiting for him to start talking. 

“I thought that leaving the band could give me a fresh start, but instead I just hit rock bottom.” he shook his head softly, “my mum got really sick, and when we knew it was nearing the end, I didn’t have the strength to stop myself, and I just called Harry.”

“I was there within the hour.” Harry said proudly, resting his chin on Louis’ shoulder. 

“Yes you were. And I’m so grateful.” Louis chuckled softly, “then from there on in, I knew there would never be anyone else for me, but we determined that we needed more time to grow up before we tried us again.”

Harry nodded, eyes glued to Louis’ side profile, “We had to get it right this time, there was just no other option.”

“Right.” Louis agreed, “I knew that he was it for me. But I wanted us both to develop an identity that didn’t revolve around each other. I figured if we gave it some time, we would naturally fall back into each other. Course, that logic went to shit when I heard the album.” 

Harry laughed. 

“I was too scared to listen when it first came out, and then I was driving home and Sign of the Times came over my radio, and -jeez the sound of his voice, I had to pullover on the side of road to bawl my eyes out. That night I went home and listened to the whole thing start to finish without making a sound. And then I immediately called Harry.”

“I was at a release party when I got the call,” Harry added his side of the story. “I swear my heart jumped out of my chest running to the back door to answer and begging him not to hang up. And then Louis told me that he loved the album, and I sent a car to pick him up and then minutes he later he told me that he still loved me. And we have been going strong ever since.” He smiled at Louis proudly.

“So Harry signed over to Columbia when he started his solo career, but unfortunately the last contract I had signed with Syco had me essentially trapped for three more years. I finally cut ties with them this year, and Harry and I immediately started the process of coming out.“

“After being closeted for 10 years.” Harry added. He lifted his and Louis’ connected hands and pressed a kiss to the back of Louis’ hand.

“What questions have you got, James? Fire away!” Harry asked.

“Wow. Wow boys. That’s quite the story isn’t it? So I have got to ask about the tattoos, how many have you got for each other?”

Louis hummed affectionately. “Well, I’ve had to tell people so many times that they mean nothing, it feels a bit surreal to sit here and answer that question.” He grinned over at Harry, “isn’t it, love?”

“Mm. Yeah it is.” 

“Well let’s see, Harry and I have got the rope and anchor, rose and dagger, ship and compass, my quote marks go with his ‘I can’t change’ though someone got that one covered up, there’s ‘oops’ and ‘hi’ of course. Which ones have I missed, Haz?”

“Well there’s my butterfly and Lou’s ‘It Is What It Is’ those were a couple’s design. We’ve also both got some references to George Michael, who was closeted in the industry, oh yeah, there’s the heart and the arrow as well. Of course there’s also Louis’ paper airplane which is for me, and the number 28 which is the age that Louis knew he would be when he could finally come out.”

“So there’s a whole lot then! Why tattoos guys?”

“They never thought to put ‘em in the contract,” Louis said, mischievous grin cracking across his face. 

“I wanna know what you guys think of the fans that have known and speculated the whole time.”

“We appreciate them very much,” Harry explained. “Every time the pressure got too much or I started hating the fact that no one knew who I truly was, I could look up ‘Larry’ on socials and see people that loved our love and supported us and saw us.”

Louis nodded, “it became fun for us, you know to leave breadcrumbs for them. They were our path to reclaiming the narrative, I would even go as far to say that ‘Larries’ were our rebellion.” 

James grinned, “And you know I think that the fans, would be shocked and just a little betrayed if they knew the celebrities that have been in on your little secret for a while, don’t you?” 

The lights dimmed on the set. A video began playing on the screen behind them, and Harry and Louis spun around on the couch to watch. 

Harry laughed out loud as Ed Sheeran popped onto the screen, “Harry! Louis! Lads, I’m so happy for you and your future that’s starting right now. You know I’ve been behind you from the beginning!” 

Kendall appeared next. “Harry and Louis, I can’t believe you didn’t warn me this was gonna happen. I almost peed my pants. I love you two so much and I’m so glad it’s not a secret anymore.”

Kacey Musgraves came next, “You boys know how proud I am! Big hugs from me!!”

Bebe Rexha, Taylor Swift, and Lizzo all appeared on screen with messages of support for Harry and Louis, each time, confirming for the fans that they were in on the secret.

Finally, Liam, Zayn, and Niall appeared all together in a video clip. Niall spoke first, “Haz and Tommo, you two have had such a rough go, but through it all you have always loved each other more than anyone on the outside of it could ever understand.” 

Liam took over, “I’m sorry for every time when it hurt, I’m sorry that you two couldn’t always be yourselves and share your love with the world, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to watch you two fall in love.”

Zayn finished with, “We are grateful for sharing the stage with you. We are proud of your strength and your pride and your love for one another. We are lucky to call you brothers.” 

The video cut to black and the lights in the studio started to come back up. Harry wiped the tears that filled his eyes as Louis pressed a quick kiss to his temple. 

“That was proper nice, James, Thank you mate.”

Harry sniffed once more, “Yeah thank you so much.”

“You are welcome. So, what’s next for Larry Stylinson then?” 

Louis shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Harry. “I don’t know, but right now I am so happy that I don’t think I care one little bit about what happen next.”

Harry bit his bottom lip, eyes glued to Louis’ face. “About that.” Louis’ eyes flicked to Harry laced with confusion.

Harry stood up and turned to stand in front of Louis on the couch. Louis quickly got to his feet looking at Harry with concern.

“Haz, is something wrong.”

Harry took Louis’ hand in his.

“Louis Tomlinson, I have loved you since I first saw you. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I was sixteen years old, and it never went away. We’ve been through a lot, but you make me strong enough to get through it all. This right now, is an absolute dream come true, that I get to tell the world that you are mine. And now-,”

Harry reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a small box. Louis gasped, hand flying to cover his open mouth and tears springing to the corners of his eyes. 

“Harry-“

“Shh- I’m almost there, babe.”

Harry got on one knee. His green eyes met Louis’ blue ones, and he slowly popped open the box to reveal a ring. A tear rolled down Louis’ cheek.

“Louis Tomlinson, will you marry me?”

“Yeah,” happy sobs escaped Louis’ lips before he dragged Harry off of the ground and kissed him hard. Whispers of “yes-yes” and “I love you, I fucking love you.” were exchanged against each other’s lips. 

James ran his own hand over his eyes, and closed out the show. Louis burrowed into Harry’s chest, exhausted and happy. 

Harry kissed the top of his head and whispered into his hair. 

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this fic! Check out some of my other works when they're up!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you!! Truly hope you enjoyed:)


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